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The appropriate surgical treatment strategy was based on the regions of tumor invasion. There is no classification to aid the surgeon in selection. A retrospective study of the clinical data of patients who underwent resection of thoracic dumbbell tumors at the Neurosurgery and Thoracic Surgery Department of Hospital between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2021 was conducted. Patient data, images, and surgical outcome data were collected. The thoracic spine was divided into areas A, B, and C with respect to the line through the middle of the intervertebral foramen and the line of the costo-transverse joint lateral margin in the horizontal plane. Type I tumors were located in areas A or A and B, type II tumors were located in areas B or B and C, and type III tumors were located in areas A, B, and C. Fifty-five patients with thoracic dumbbell tumors were surgically treated (mean age, 43.1 years; 22 (40%) female). The patients with type I and III tumors underwent the posterior approach, type III tumors had more bleeding during the operation and longer operation times than type I. Among the patients with type II tumors who underwent video-assisted thoracic surgery and the posterior approach, the posterior group had more bleeding and a longer operation time than the others. The patients with type III tumors underwent the combined approach and the posterior approach; although there was no clear difference in the bleeding volume or operation time, the combined approach group had a lower incidence of complications. The new classification of different types of thoracic dumbbell tumors can simply and effectively guide the selection of surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ca-doped TiO2 nanorod arrays were prepared via the one-step hydrothermal method successfully, and the effect of Ca ions content on the photovoltaic conversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells has been fully discussed in the paper. Although no obvious change on the microstructure and morphology was observed by field emission scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope for the Ca-doped samples, the results of X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed that Ti4+ was substituted with Ca2+ successfully. UV-vis spectroscopy results revealed that the flat band edge shifted positively by Ca ions doping. The photovoltaic conversion efficiency of the dye-sensitized solar cells based on the 2mol% Ca-doped TiO2 electrode was 43% higher than that of the undoped one due to the less recombination possibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a numerical method is proposed for simulating dynamic response of a ferromagnetic structure immersed in a strong magnetic field aiming at applications to the in vessel Tokamak structure of RAFM steel. The magnetic damping coupling effect and the magnetic stiffness coupling effect are considered in the numerical simulation. For simple, the static magnetic field is supposed very strong and the material is considered saturated in this work, i.e., the material is of air permeability but with a strong residual magnetization. To demonstrate the validity of the numerical method, the dynamic response of a ferromagnetic plate immersed in a transient transverse magnetic field with in-plane magnetic field component is simulated with the developed numerical code and compared with the simulated results with ANSYS. The good consistency of numerical results and simulation results demonstrated the validity of the proposed method and the corresponding numerical code. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) initiate and maintain host defenses. These receptors play important roles in innate immunity and in various diseases. Different TLRs bind to diverse ligands that trigger distinct protein expression patterns. Few studies have focused on the interaction between different TLRs. We found that TLR2 priming downregulates TLR4 transcription, and expression of TLR4 activation induced major histocompatibility complex II (MHC II), adhesion molecule intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), phagocytosis marker CD11b/CD18, and Fcγ receptor (FcγR) expression. In contrast, TLR4 priming increases TLR2 transcription and expression. In addition, TLR4 priming increases secretion of certain proinflammatory mediators. Expression of costimulatory molecules CD80/CD86 increases with TLR2 or TLR4 activation sequences. Our results reveal that TLR2/TLR4 activation may determine disease pathogenesis and prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, graphene/g-C 3 N 4 in-plane heterojunctions (SGCN-x) with D-π-A structure are prepared by hydrothermal and pyrolysis carbonization methods. The interfacial bonded hydrothermal precursor can assist the synthesis of graphite carbon and g-C 3 N 4 at mild thermodynamic conditions. The characterizations indicated that graphene was stitched onto the edge of carbon nitride. The interface of the in-plane heterojunction is carbon-nitrogen heterocyclic rings with π conjugate property, which can be regarded as the transmission channel of electrons. That is, the separation/transport of photocarriers in SGCN-x heterostructure is accelerated, and the recombination time of photogenerated electrons and holes is prolonged. The highest yield of hydrogen production performance has reached up to 7446 μmol/(g·h) for the optimization of the photocatalyst, almost 6.73 times higher compared with pure g-C 3 N 4. This work opens new opportunities for the significant strategy for the in-situ preparation of graphene-based materials and construction of efficient photoactive material for catalysis. • In situ synthesis of microcrystalline graphite/g-C 3 N 4 in-plane heterojunctions. • Construct D-π-A structure and promote the separation and transfer of carriers. • Improve hydrogen production performance to 7446 μmol/(g·h). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution investigates the extension of the microplane formulation to the description of transversely isotropic materials such as shale rock, foams, unidirectional composites, and ceramics. Two possible approaches are considered: (1) the spectral decomposition of the stiffness tensor to define the microplane constitutive laws in terms of energetically orthogonal eigenstrains and eigenstresses and (2) the definition of orientation-dependent microplane elastic moduli. The first approach, as demonstrated previously, provides a rigorous way to tackle anisotropy within the microplane framework, which is reviewed and presented herein in a clearer manner; whereas the second approach represents an approximation which, however, makes the formulation of nonlinear constitutive equations much simpler. The efficacy of the second approach in modeling the macroscopic elastic behavior is compared to the thermodynamic restrictions of the anisotropic parameters showing that a significant range of elastic properties can be modeled with excellent accuracy. Further, it is shown that it provides a very good approximation of the microplane stresses provided by the first approach, with the advantage of a simpler formulation. It is concluded that the spectral stiffness decomposition represents the best approach in such cases as for modeling composites, in which accurately capturing the elastic behavior is important. The introduction of orientation-dependent microplane elastic moduli provides a simpler framework for the modeling of transversely isotropic materials with remarked inelastic behavior, as in the case, for example, of shale rock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current spinal dumbbell tumor classifications are excessively focused on dumbbell tumors of the cervical spine and corresponding surgical strategies, neglecting lumbar dumbbell tumors, and appropriate strategies for such lesions. We aimed to establish a classification of lumbar dumbbell tumors (LDTs) based on diagnostic imaging and lesion location to enable the selection of optimal surgical strategies. We retrospectively analyzed 39 patients who had LDTs evaluated at a single institution. Herein, we propose categories defined by tumor position in the horizontal and longitudinal tumor length in the coronal direction. Thirty-nine patients with LDTs were surgically treated. The pathology consisted of schwannoma, neurofibroma, hemangioma, and a cyst in 33, 3, 2, and 1 cases, respectively. Based on the new classification, type IA, type IB, type IC, type ID, type IIA, type IIB, and type IIB/M were diagnosed in 6, 4, 3, 1, 20, 2, and 3 cases, respectively. Thirteen, 23, 1, and 2 patients underwent surgery using posterior, paraspinal, oblique retroperitoneal, and combined approaches, respectively. Gross total resection was achieved in all patients. The complications included cerebrospinal fluid leakage in 2 cases and infection in 1. Thirty-six patients showed clinical improvement, 2 showed no change in clinical status, and 1 was lost to follow-up because the patient's contact information changed. This classification of LDTs by their position in the coronal and axial planes is a simple and practical basis for selecting a surgical approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Static and dynamic analysis of the fracture tests of fiber composites in hydraulically servo-controlled testing machines currently in use shows that their grips are much too soft and light for observing the postpeak softening. Based on static analysis based on the second law of thermodynamics, confirmed by dynamic analysis of the test setup as an open system, far stiffer and heavier grips are proposed. Tests of compact-tension fracture specimens of woven carbon-epoxy laminates prove this theoretical conclusion. Sufficiently, stiff grips allow obsen'ation of a stable postpeak softening, even under load-point displacement control. Dynamic analysis of the test setup as a closed system with proportional-integrative-differential (PlD)-controlled input further indicates that the controllability of postpeak softening under crack-mouth opening displacement (CMOD) control is improved not only by increasing the grip stiffness but also by increasing the grip mass. The fracture energy deduced from the area under the measured complete load-deflection cuiye with stable postpeak is shown to agree with the fracture energy deduced from the size effect tests of the same composite, but the size effect tests also provide the material characteristic length of quasibrittle (or cohesive) fracture mechanics. Previous suspicions of dynamic snapback in the testing of stiff specimens of composites are dispelled. Finally, the results show the stress-or strain-based failure criteria for fiber composites to be incorrect, and fracture mechanics, of the quasibrittle type, to be perfectly applicable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hong Qu glutinous rice wine (HQGRW) is brewed under non-aseptic fermentation conditions, so it usually has a relatively high total acid content. The aim of this study was to investigate the dynamics of the bacterial communities and total acid during the fermentation of HQGRW and elucidate the correlation between total acid and bacterial communities. Results: The results showed that the period of rapid acid increase during fermentation occurred at the early stage of fermentation. There was a negative response between total acid increase and the rate of increase in alcohol during the early fermentation stage. Bacterial community analysis using high-throughput sequencing technology was found that the dominant bacterial communities changed during the traditional fermentation of HQGRW. Both principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical clustering analysis revealed that there was a great difference between the bacterial communities of Hong Qu starter and those identified during the fermentation process. Furthermore, the key bacteria likely to be associated with total acid were identified by Spearman's correlation analysis. Lactobacillus, unclassified Lactobacillaceae, and Pediococcus were found, which can make significant contributions to the total acid development (| r | N 0.6 with FDR adjusted P b 0.05), establishing that these bacteria can associate closely with the total acid of rice wine. Conclusions: This was the first study to investigate the correlation between bacterial communities and total acid during the fermentation of HQGRW. These findings may be helpful in the development of a set of fermentation techniques for controlling total acid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While hydraulic fracturing technology, aka fracking (or fraccing, frac), has become highly developed and astonishingly successful, a consistent formulation of the associated fracture mechanics that would not conflict with some observations is still unavailable. It is attempted here. Classical fracture mechanics, as well as current commercial software, predict vertical cracks to propagate without branching from the perforations of the horizontal well casing, which are typically spaced at 10 m or more. However, to explain the gas production rate at the wellhead, the crack spacing would have to be only about 0.1 m, which would increase the overall gas permeability of shale mass about 10,000×. This permeability increase has generally been attributed to a preexisting system of orthogonal natural cracks, whose spacing is about 0.1 m. However, their average age is about 100 million years, and a recent analysis indicated that these cracks must have been completely closed by secondary creep of shale in less than a million years. Here it is considered that the tectonic events that produced the natural cracks in shale must have also created weak layers with nanocracking or microcracking damage. It is numerically demonstrated that seepage forces and a greatly enhanced permeability along the weak layers, with a greatly increased transverse Biot coefficient, must cause the fracking to engender lateral branching and the opening of hydraulic cracks along the weak layers, even if these cracks are initially almost closed. A finite element crack band model, based on a recently developed anisotropic spherocylindrical microplane constitutive law, demonstrates these findings [Rahimi-Aghdam S, et al. (2018) arXiv:1212.11023]. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The hierarchical porous heterostructured MIL‐125/TiO2@SiO2 composites are successfully obtained by biogenic‐templated method using rice husk both as biomorphic. The products are characterized by X‐ray diffraction, N2‐adsorption‐desorption analysis, scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The results reveal that MIL‐125/TiO2@SiO2 possesses a hierarchical porous structure in scale from micrometer to nanometer with high Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area (385.7–902.7 m2 g−1). The photocatalytic mechanism was discussed in detail. Meanwhile, the activity of MIL‐125/TiO2@SiO2 for the photocatalytic degradation of rhodamine B in aqueous medium is significantly higher than that of P25. The current work provides some concept and methods in the development of MOF‐based photocatalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, the procedure for the in situ-forming process of Al2O3-SiO2-based foams slurry using diacetin (DAT) and silica sol (SS) as the gelling agents was evaluated, and the rheological behavior of the foam slurry was studied. The results showed that the rheological properties played a key role during the curing process of foam slurry. Excellent thixotropy, obvious pseudoplasticity, and large critical strain for the gelling agent contained foam slurries meant a stronger internal three-dimensional network structure which was conducive to shorten the curing time of the foam slurry for further applications. With this technique, we were able to produce porous mullite ceramics with good mechanical and structural properties. After sintering the as-prepared green body at 1350 °C, the porous ceramics were found with a bulk density of 0.528 g/cm³, a compressive strength of 2.49 MPa, an apparent porosity of 77.9%, and pores ranging from 100 to 500 μm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hyperglycemia-induced inflammation and apoptosis have important roles in the pathogenesis of diabetic cardiomyopathy. We recently found that a novel curcumin derivative, C66, is able to reduce the high glucose (HG)-induced inflammatory response. This study was designed to investigate the protective effects on diabetic cardio-myopathy and its underlying mechanisms. Pretreatment with C66 significantly reduced HG-induced overex-pression of inflammatory cytokines via inactivation of nuclear factor-κB in both H9c2 cells and neonatal cardiomyocytes. Furthermore, we showed that the inhibition of Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) phosphorylation contributed to the protection of C66 from inflammation and cell apoptosis, which was validated by the use of SP600125 and dominant-negative JNK. The molecular docking and kinase activity assay confirmed direct binding of C66 to and inhibition of JNK. In mice with type 1 diabetes, the administration of C66 or SP600125 at 5 mg/kg significantly decreased the levels of plasma and cardiac tumor necrosis factor-α, accompanied by decreasing cardiac apoptosis, and, finally, improved histological abnormalities, fibrosis, and cardiac dysfunction without affecting hyperglycemia. Thus, this work demonstrated the therapeutic potential of the JNK-targeting compound C66 for the treatment of diabetic cardiomyopathy. Importantly, we indicated a critical role of JNK in diabetic heart injury, and suggested that JNK inhibition may be a feasible strategy for treating diabetic cardiomyopathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]